this election we had 35. so people are absolutely dug in to their positions, and it is very, very difficult to get anybody -- >> given that reality, george will, what could the president do if he wanted to to kind of bridge those divides? >> well, it's extremely easy. these are splittable differences on whether or not -- how and whether we're going to pay for the welfare state. you've heard me before, george, i'll say it again, i disagree with all four of you. i don't think this division is what characterizes this town. it's a vast, deep consensus we're going to have a large generous welfare state and not pay for it. everyone is agreed on that, and until the arithmetic forces us to change on that, we're going to -- these other issues are small potatoes. >> and, you know, rick santorum, house republicans certainly seem to feel some of the pressure on those issues this week. they announced at the end of the week that they're not going to hold up this debt limit and seek a three-month extension on the debt limit